Forum Thread

"Bree." Jaxon sat up slowly, still catching his breath from the strain of breaking the bonds. He reached a hand out into the dark, towards her voice, fishing silently for a response. He puffed out a heavy sigh, drawing himself closer to their known borders, leaning against the wall. A quiet thud echoed through the chamber as his skull met it, a soft impact but an impact nonetheless. He listened for her voice again, answering her questions after a moment. No other voice mattered, his healer-... No, his friend, was nearby, asking for him. "I'm here, I'm fine. Nothing's broken, that I can tell, but everything's numb. Some loaf's laying on my legs." He nudged the weight away from his body, drawing his legs up manually and patting his thighs to beat the blood back into them. "If we had some light, I could probably find a way into the cockpit. We're in a helicopter, judging by the sound of the engine and the way it's moving. We're tilted some, it's not too noticeable. Wherever we're going, we're not going there too quickly." He punctuated his statement with a simple stamp of his foot, his right leg waking up slowly, pins and needles sprinkling over it ass the blood rushed back into the drunken tissue.

Lediana decided that she needed a break. The reality of war was starting of get to her. She ran back to the Blue base, hoping to find someone of talk to. But everyone seemed to be out fighting. Lediana didn't understand how they could stand it. Maybe she was just useless, too weak to properly do her job. And why were Red and Blue at war anyway!? War was a cruel thing, why start it or jump into it!? Lediana decided that it was time to do something. And she had something in mind. Yes, it was crazy, and totally against her orders. But the government was wrong to be at war, so she really didn't care about them anyway. She was going to run, go into hiding, that way, hopefully she wouldn't have to kill or wound. She would be free! She started running, faster and faster, away from the battlefield, away from what was wrong.

---

Bree already knew that Jaxon was okay. Still, she visibly relaxes when he verbally confirms that. She silently listens to him talk, a small smile appearing on her face as she listens to him explain their situation. This was the Jaxon that she remembered. He had great situational awareness, she figured it was one of the many things that made him dangerous. "That's good" she says after a beat of silence. "I suppose we have nothing better to do than to plan our escape." She pauses and glances around. Taking time to focus on each aura. The drugs were doing a great job, not only did they block her healing ability, but it also made it difficult for her to read auras. Fortunately, it wasn't impossible. "Maybe we should make a few friends? What's the old saying? 'An enemy of my enemy is my friend.' I don't recognize some of these auras, it's likely that they are from the Red group."

Dantier was still tied up and practically useless at this point, way too exhausted to try and free himself. He heard voices, familiar ones, all around him. "So... you guys are finally awake..." He gave a small, almost heartless chuckle at the joke he made as he aimlessly looked around, trying to find something to look at. He suddenly heard the terrifying sound of bones cracking beside him, and with what a voice said earlier, he concluded that it was Andrea. "What the hell Andrea?! My god you're sick..." He said, disgust filling his voice. How did she do that so carelessly? He had gone through so many painful things and yet he still couldn't ignore pain as easily as that. His head snapped in the direction of a loud yell, followed by someone calling out a name. Jaxon. "Bree?" He made his way closer the best he could, wanting to investigate further to confirm his suspicions. "Heh... Long time no see, right?" He gave a smile that he knew she wouldn't see, but it still helped lighten his mood.

---

“Your assumptions are correct. Both red and blue are here. My pleasure to meet you, Bree, Jaxon, Erin, San, and the rest of you. You just might have seen me around before.” Andrea comments idly. “Your bonds— are they painful?” She asks Bree, before turning her question to Jaxon. “Light is always present in this kind of situation, even if it’s simply a meagre flicker. Otherwise we wouldn’t even be able to see each other. Perhaps one of them could help you” She gestures to the others. Now speaking to Dantier. “I dislocate my joints at will. It doesn’t hurt me much, Dantier. I thought I’d mentioned it before?”

---

San's head snapped up at a familiar voice and a soundless whimper ripped itself out of his broken throat, tail thrashing as his heart clenched within his chest. That was Andrea, Andrea who had escaped so long ago, Andrea who had been given a second chance only for her to be recaptured into this hellhole. Andrea, who despite everything, San still remembered her. Finally opening his eyes, vertical eyes quickly adjusting to the dark lighting. Perhaps he should have thanked whatever devil was out there that his eyes had been replaced with red abominations, allowing him to take in the faces of people he had long since thought safe. But the face who greeted him first was not Andrea, but instead Dantier. He looked like he hadn't aged much in the few years they had parted. There were a few new scars and he looked like the years had weighed on him yet it was undeniably Dantier. And when he turned his head, there again was a voice he remembered. He looked different, much different from when he last seen him but his nose and his ears were rarely ever wrong. That was Grey with his dry humor that almost felt like a balm on their horrid situation. If his eyes had retained their tear ducts, they would be flowing yet only an uncomfortable pressure pressed against his eyes as he squeezed them shut. So many people that he thought had escaped Their grasp was here. They weren't supposed to be here, they were supposed to be away. Far far far away where not even the Gods could reach them, if they existed at all. He was supposed to never see them again and he had been content with that. If it had meant their safety, he would have banished them from his memory

Bowing his head, San let himself silently grieve over the reunion that was never supposed to happen. He could almost tune out the conversation but still these painfully familiar voices washed over him like pins and needles. They were supposed to be safe, they shouldn't be here. He said as much, message encoded in the dull thumps of his tail against the metal floor

---

Chip grumbled as he struggled to break free of the bonds. He moved his hands around the rope, finding one of the knots. He didn't know much about whatever knot they used or how to undo knots, he just started pulling at it. But only seemed to make it worse as it tightened, gripping his hand with more force. He could hear voices around him, voices he recognized and knew well. He tried pulling it the other way, and successfully got it loosened. He looked around now, at familiar faces and also some new ones that he couldn't identify. "Where are we?" He asked again, a bit louder.

---

Hearing his voice only confirmed her suspicions. "Dantier" Bree says while glancing towards him. "I wish I could say it was nice to see you" she offers him a kind smile, but drops it quickly and sighs. "I thought you were able to escape... honestly, I was hoping you were out living your best life, what happened?" She asks softly.

She glances towards Andrea when she hears her speak. "They are uncomfortable" she says with a nervous chuckle. "But I think I'd rather deal with them than dislocate my shoulder to get rid of them" she admits with a soft smile. "I'm sorry, I don't recall meeting you, how do you know-?" she pauses, lost in thought, then suddenly bursts out laughing. "So you're a spy? And a good one at that for managing to go under my radar. I'm sure glad to suddenly have you on our team."

Grey sighed. This was getting akward. He'd seen the glances from a few people, like they knew him. But he didn't. He only knew a select few of them. He realized that the mesh's power over him was waining, and he managed to get himself into a sitting posistion, his fingers working numbly at the knots. "Look, I have the strange feeling I know you people personally, so i might as well get it out in the open. You're on Blue, right? Have we met? Personally?" He didn't doubt he'd hurt at least one of them.

---

He looked back over to andrea with the most perplexed look on his face. "Yeah yeah I know, but I still can't get over it..." He shivered at the thought of her doing that again, only to soon have his attention back on Bree. His expression changed from light-hearted confusion to a face filled with sorrow and pain. "What do you think? Would I really be allowed to roam around without constantly being reminded of the life I live? They hunted me down, stopped at nothing to get control of me again... Besides, what life was there to live? Everyone I love is rotting in the ground, I'm a freak to everyone who sees me, who's crazy enough to call my life as living?" He fell silent after saying that, his mood drastically plummeting. He knew he shouldn't be here, no one should, but here they were. He heard another voice, almost deciding to ignore it until his anger got the best of him. "Look around, figure it out yourself... Oh right, you can't!" His voice was almost a yell at this point, but he quickly calmed himself down. "I-I'm sorry Chip, I didn't mean to yell..." He let his head fall to his chest and his eyes close in regret, wishing that things would just stop. He would've missed the faint thumping of San's tail if he hadn't already been thinking about him. "San...?" His voice was quiet and low, hardly any emotion leaving his lips.

---

She cracks her joints once more, slipping both hands out of their restraints and proceeding to walk over to the others and observe them. She checks all their restraints, looking at her hands once more, showing it to them and speaking louder. “Couldn’t have been here long, otherwise we would all have infected wounds from our bindings.” Making sure everyone was relatively okay, she slips back into said cuffs, cracking the joints to fit them back. “I wasn’t expecting you too. Despite me being able to dislocate and relocate joints at will, I think if you do it’s going to hurt a lot. Red and blue. A mixture of both, but we all have powers.”

---

Those words were like a bullet, piercing through San and leaving him gasping for breath. Grey didn't remember him. He didn't remember. Did he not care about what they had? Had Grey escaped only to put everything else behind him and in his haste also put away their friendship? Stumbling up to his feet, only falling down once when his legs gave out under the stinging pain, nearly crawling on his knees to get to Grey. Anything that he tried to vocalize was lost the the rasping winds but from the furrowed brows and downcast eyes there was no denying that once upon a time, this desperate cat boy had known Grey and still did.

When it was clear that there was no recognition in Grey's eyes, San let out a low wail, thin frame shaking despite the silent grief. Though there was certainly anger and betrayal making his face screw up in pain, the only thing San could think of was how cruel the world must be to take away someone else's memories of him.

At the call of his name, his ears perked up and almost like a child, he whirled around to meet whoever had called for him. When a familiar face littered with unfamiliar scars proved to be the source of the beckon, San's face seemed to light up and he immediately bounded over. A sickly procession of cracks joined in symphony with Andrea as San's form seemed to disappear before a sleek black cat slipped out from the pile of clothes and loose bindings to land on Dantier's lap. Immediately, velveteen paws found purchase on Dantier's shoulders and a leathery tongue laved over him, washing wherever he could. His purring could be physically felt even if it was nothing but vibrations, shaking the cat's body as he expressed both his elation and sorrow at the unexpected reunion

---

"Dantier..." Bree sighs and lowers her own head down. She understood his pain and frustrations. Just like him, she managed to escape once. She had selfishly turned her back on everyone. Just when she got over that pain and started to live, she was forced to return. She understood his anger, after all, she had felt a similar fit of rage just moments ago. "I understand" she whispers. "But it doesn't have to be this way... Maybe we could fight! There has to be something we could do. Something to stop all of this!" She groans and rests her head back onto the wall behind her. "This life is unfair and we don't deserve it... But if one thing is clear, it's this. You aren't a freak. None of are." She smirks. "We're all special, different, powerful. If anything, the people desperately trying to control us are the freaks." She sighs and glances away from them. "Heh, sorry, I know I've never been the best at these pep talks..."

*Grimm would pat Bree’s hand and she would nod. Bree was right. They all where here for one reason. They all knew it. Grimm’s would retrieve a chalkboard from her bag and she would write a spot for everyone’s name on it. She would write “extraordinary healing ability” under her name. She would then pass on the chalkboard and chalk to Dantier*

---

Chip got a little Deja Vu after hearing that name. San . . Where have I heard that before? He couldn't place a finger on it, he just knew it was familiar in a way. He almost chuckled at Dantiers apology. People were always on edge around him and they would call him annoying. He didn't respond to Dantier but instead focused in the darkness at most of the people. He noticed many people in the same state as he was, bruised and tied up.

---

He didn't say a word about Bree's response, knowing that if he spoke his mind, it wouldn't end up well. How could she still thik there was any hope left for them? Hadn't they already tried to fight long ago? They tried so many times, so many times had they failed and suffered the consequences. Hell, all of them even died many times, and the scar that experience left on Dantier was too deep for him to keep trying. He couldn't bear to lose everyone in this room again, he'd go insane. He gave a sigh as the feline sat on his lap, slowly stroking it's head as he silently sat in his sorrow. He looked over at the chalkboard handed to him by Grimm, staring at it for a few seconds. What was he supposed to do with this? He took it and brought it in front of his eyes, trying to read what had been written on it. Extraordinary Healing Ability, with a name above it. Was Grimm trying to get to know everyone? Well, it made sense considering she knew almost no one here. He held the chalk over the board for a few seconds, wondering what he should write. All she wanted was his name and his power, right? Then... Why was it so hard to write? He took a deep breath and started writing in his god-awful handwriting, Dantier - Immortality. He wasn't sure on how to explain his ability, since writing it out would just be a hassle, so what he put down was probably the best option. He handed the board back to Grimm and continued to sit in silence.

---

xxxx

─────────╴─╴─╴─ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐍 ❝𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍❞╶─╶─╶─╶────── ─
𝙵𝙻𝙲-𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟷/𝟢𝟢𝟫𝟪𝟧𝟥𝟥𝟨𝟢𝟢
android
allegiance blue
tagging
location ???
feeling pained, disoriented, scornful
wc; 728 words
──────────────────╴─╴─╴─╴╶─╶─╶─╶─────────────── ─
𝚂𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙼 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙼𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽 𝙰𝚂 𝙾𝙵 𝟷𝟸-𝟷𝟺-𝟹𝟻
𝚁𝚄𝙽𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙼 𝙳𝙸𝙰𝙶𝙽𝙾𝚂𝙸𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝟻...𝟺...𝟹...𝟸...𝟷

𝚁𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚂𝙷𝚄𝚃𝙳𝙾𝚆𝙽 𝙳𝙴𝚃𝙴𝙲𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝙳𝚄𝙴 𝚃𝙾 𝚂𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙼 𝙵𝙰𝙸𝙻𝚄𝚁𝙴...

𝚂𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 ...
𝚂𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 ...
𝚂𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶 ...
Immune to the voices of the other soldiers who had been imprisoned with her, FLC-2001's consciousness hovered in a limbo stasis. Her expression was perfectly stolid, unfeeling and unmoving as the mechanics in her brain ran a thorough diagnosis of her system. It wouldn't be the first time the android had been forced to shut down due to a system failure or mysterious glitch. While on the outside, it seemed that Erin hadn't survived the journey, but while her outside physiognomy suggested a stillness too uncanny for a human, even in unconciousness, her mechanical components were in fact very much active.

𝙾𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚂𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙼
[𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚂]

𝚆𝙴𝙱 𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙴
[𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚂]

𝙱𝚁𝙾𝚆𝚂𝙴𝚁 𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙸𝙾𝙽
[𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚂]

𝙷𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙴
...
...
It was on this one her system hesitated the longest instead of dismissing it. Not only scanning for corruption, but also for missing components. Erin was known for a patchy memory.

𝙷𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝚈 𝙳𝙰𝚃𝙰𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙴
[𝙿𝙰𝚂𝚂]
It moved on, no error to be found.
𝙰𝙻𝙻 𝚂𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙼𝚂 𝙾𝙿𝙴𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝙰𝙻...
𝚂𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝙼𝚂 𝚁𝙴𝙱𝙾𝙾𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶
𝙸𝙽
𝟹...𝟸...𝟷

*Grimm nodded her head to show her thanks. She opened her bag and gave everyone a stick of chalk and some macaroons. She would pass the board to the next person, she laughed to herself being reminded of Nursery school.*

---

Andrea scoffs “A lil bit hard, don’t you think, for those in restraints to sign the chalkboard? And also rather difficult to eat macaroons, drink tea and pretend everything is cheery. No thank you, I hate sweet foods.” Andrea, having received the chalkboard, stamps hard on one end, and it flips, landing neatly in front of Jaxon with surprisingly no cracks or breaks. She pockets the chalk, however, and stretches a hand out to stroke San. “We are freaks, to everyone else around us— everyone normal. We are considered outcasts. Even if we managed to escape this” She gestures around her with her other hand “We won’t be accepted into the general community. We’ll have to fight for ourselves, every day, every hour, every minute, every second of your lives— our lives.” To demonstrate, she breaks the chalk into two pieces, keeping one. She points to the broken chalk. “This is us” She then breaks her macaroon into two. “That’s the community of normal people, and that’s the people who have us trapped here.” She points to each half of the macaroon, then kicks the chalk away. “And that’s what they think of us, that’s what they’ll do. They. Hate. Us”

Pausing and staring at everyone dead in the eye, trying to make sure they got the message. She pauses a while, before drawling “Oh look, the android’s awake. Welcome to our little tea party~”

---

With a murp, San hopped up onto Dantier's shoulder, paws gently kneading out the stiff knots on the other's neck and shoulders. It felt... oddly nice and if one disregarded the fact that it was basically just a cat walking all over them, it made for a pretty good massage. Giving him a few last comforting licks, he leapt off the other's shoulder and ambled over to where the broken chalk had been kicked towards. Batting the material, he leaned down to lick at the chalk before leaping away with disgust written all over his face. He didn't need a voice to even even make it known, sticking his ruined tongue out and kicking the chalk away. It was almost funny to see how miffed he looked at eating the dry and decidedly non edible material.

See, one must remember that the Cat that is San and San who is the Cat is not always one and the same. Sometimes the Cat dictates its movement and other times it is San who takes control. Other times it is both and it is neither, simply moving along with the whims of whatever goes on within the scrambled mind a genetically modified experiment stuffed into the illusory body of a cat. And sometimes eating chalk was the result of such a struggle for control.

Glancing back at the chalkboard that was being passed around, San had an inkling as to what exactly they were doing but he couldn't really be bothered to transform back and write on it. Everything was simpler as a cat anyways so he curled up where he was, ignoring the flaring pain in his joints as he did so.

---